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09
Aug 2016
Expansion of healthcare privatisation damaging the NHS
A new study has suggested that the increase of privatisation of healthcare, which has been named “patient choice”, could be damaging to the NHS and ultimately lead to a decline in the standard of treatment for the sick, the poor and the old.
Amongst the founding principles of the NHS is the necessity to meet the needs of all patients, regardless of circumstances.
However, researchers from Queen Mary University of London warned that the Government’s growing use of private healthcare firms in England was a “radical” experiment that could go “catastrophically wrong”. They suggested that private healthcare firms were “cherry-picking” the simplest cases, leading patients with more complex cases attempting to access reduced NHS services.
In a paper published in the Journal of Public Health, the researchers wrote “This is the first research to examine how the policy of patient choice and commercial contracting, where NHS funds are given to private providers to tackle waiting times, impacted on direct NHS provision and treatment inequalities.
“An increased use of private sector provision by NHS boards was associated with a significant decrease in direct NHS provision and with widening inequalities by age and socio-economic deprivation.”
Chadwick Lawrence’s specialist team of clinical negligence lawyers have years of experience in medical negligence compensation claims, and have obtained substantial compensation for our clients. Not only do we represent clients in Yorkshire, but because of our reputation we also represent clients nationally.
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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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